Giving up more than 30 pounds, Chael Sonnen withstood the power of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson to win their first-round fight via unanimous decision in the Heavyweight Grand Prix in the Bellator 192 main event Saturday at The Forum.

All three judges scored it 29-28 for Sonnen (30-15-1), who was his loquacious self in victory.

“I got the biggest arms, the best charm, and I bring all the harm,” he said.

Sonnen, who fought for the middleweight and light heavyweight titles in the UFC, was fighting at heavyweight for the first time. He will take on the winner of the Fedor Emelanenko vs. Frank Mir in April.

Jackson (37-13) said all week he didn’t like fighting a wrestler who would take him down and hold him down. And for two rounds, that’s exactly what Sonnen did. And at the end of the first round, Sonnen attempted rear-naked and guillotine chokes.

Jackson began to catch Sonnen in the third round, but the clock ran out on the former Pride middleweight and UFC light heavyweight champion.

In the lead-up to the fight, Jackson had baited Sonnen, even offering $10,000 for each time Sonnen took him down. If that holds true, Jackson owes Sonnen $30,000.

“God made 6 billion men, and none one of them are as tough as Chael Sonnen,” Sonnen said.

MacDonald wins gold

Rory MacDonald has been in many battles. Saturday night, he finally won a war.

MacDonald shook off a nasty swollen left leg to capture the Bellator welterweight championship with a gutty performance against Douglas Lima in the co-main event at Bellator 192 at The Forum.

“I think I have a person growing inside me,” MacDonald (20-4) said of his leg after the victory.

The judges scored it 48-47, 49-45, 49-46 for “The Red King,” who hadn’t won a title since his King of the Cage Canada days nearly 10 years ago.

MacDonald looked beaten and battered, but nothing compared to his brutal 2015 title-fight loss to Robbie Lawler at UFC 189

Questions lingered after the third round when, after a steady diet of calf kicks from Lima (29-7), MacDonald was sweeped off his feet by a massive leg kick. MacDonald walked back to his corner just fine.

After Lima took him down to start the fourth, it was evident MacDonald had massive swelling on his left shin, drawing groans from the crowd after it was shown on the big screen.

The ringside doctor checked MacDonald’s leg before the fifth round and let him continue after MacDonald hopped up and down on it. Lima began the round by whiffing on a big uppercut, and MacDonald followed with a big takedown.

The challenger kept Lima down for the entire round, cracking the champ with elbows that opened a couple cuts on Lima’s head.

Lima lost his 170-pound title for the second time following his unanimous-decision loss to Andrey Koreshkov in 2015. He responded by winning three in a row, including a third-round knockout of Koreshkov in 2016.

Whittier’s Pico crushes Kruchten

Aaron Pico is leaving no doubt he can punch.

The Whittier featherweight, once known for being a world-class wrestler, crushed Shane Kruchten with a body shot to end their fight in just 37 seconds Saturday at Bellator 192 at The Forum.

Pico, 21, is only 2-1 in his young pro MMA career, but he now has two one-shot knockouts, further lending credence to boxing trainer Freddie Roach’s words that Pico could become a world boxing champion

Pico, who made his highly anticipated Bellator debut with a first-round submission loss in June, came back with a left hook to crush Justin Linn in September.

On Saturday, Pico landed one left hook to the body that had Kruchten (12-4) backpedaling. Seconds later, with Kruchten backing against the cage, Pico threw a right leg kick. As Kruchten shifted his weight, Pico was left with a field of flesh to pound Kruchten in the ribs. Kruchten instantly went down and the fight was quickly over.

Chandler pummels Yamauchi

Michael Chandler is back.

Seven months after losing his lightweight title due to injury, Chandler brought ample ground-and-pound punishment to Goiti Yamauchi to take a lopsided unanimous decision Saturday at Bellator 192 at The Forum.

The judges scored it 30-26, 30-26, 30-25 for Chandler, whose 14 Bellator wins are tied for the most in promotion history.

Bellator President Scott Coker had said the winner of the fight would get a shot at champion Brent Primus, who was awarded the belt at Bellator NYC in June after Chandler wasn’t allowed to continue because of a bad ankle injury.

And Chandler (17-4) overwhelmingly proved he deserves it.

The former two-time Bellator 155-pound champion spent most of the first round pummeling Yamauchi (22-4), who came in having won three in a row and six of his past seven.

A second-round side kick to the chin wobbled Chandler but didn’t put him down. Chandler weathered some more strikes to take Yamauchi down again and deliver more damage.

The third round was all Chandler, who took down the Japanese-born Brazilian and dropped several brutal punches and elbows.

Corrales outpoints Karakhanyan

Much was expected from the fight between Henry Corrales and Georgi Karakhanyan — and the featherweights delivered.

The two tangled and threw leather from the opening bell, with Corrales doing enough to earn the unanimous decision Saturday in the opening fight on the Bellator 192 main card.

The judges scored it 30-27, 29-28, 29-28 for Corrales (15-3).

Dull moments were few and far between in a great way to start Bellator’s first show on the new Parmaount network. By the end of the first round, Corrales ripped Karakhanyan (27-8-1) with a left, drawing a “no-no” wave of the finger from the Riverside fighter.

Corrales continued to get the better of the exchanges while also defending Karakhanyan’s takedowns. Corrales had a small cut by his left eye by the second round, but was undeterred and kept a torrid pace in the third.

Corrales began his Bellator career in June 2015 after a 12-0 start, and promptly lost three in a row. He decided to move from La Mirada to train at The MMA Lab in Glendale, Ariz., and has now rattled off three consecutive wins.

Karakhanyan, who came in having won three of his past four, was looking to avenge a majority-decision loss to Emmanuel Sanchez one year ago at Bellator 170 at The Forum.

Join the Conversation

We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. Although we do not pre-screen comments, we reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.

If you see comments that you find offensive, please use the “Flag as Inappropriate” feature by hovering over the right side of the post, and pulling down on the arrow that appears. Or, contact our editors by emailing moderator@scng.com.